Los Angeles Fire Department hiring needs overhaul, RAND report finds

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RAND REPORT COURTESY PHOTO
A long-awaited RAND report, prepared after a three-month study of the LAFD, found significant modifications are needed to ensure the outreach and recruiting system is transparent, including a stronger effort to attract more women and minority firefighters.

The Los Angeles Fire Department must overhaul the way it recruits and processes candidates if it is to be more effective in the city and fair to its recruits, the RAND Corp. said Thursday.

A long-awaited report, prepared by the Santa Monica think tank after a three-month study of the LAFD in the summer, found major changes are needed to make the system more transparent, including a greater effort to attract more women and minorities.

Among other things, findings confirm there are far more candidates for LAFD jobs than there are positions available. In 2013, there were upwards of 13,000 applicants for fewer than 100 jobs. Most of those were eliminated either by failing the written test given all candidates or by failing to provide the necessary documentation in the required timeline, which has been exceedingly short.

As an example, applicants in 2013 had to submit all their information within 60 seconds to be accepted for processing.

Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered the $270,000 RAND study after a series of news accounts of nepotism and other favoritism in hiring new firefighters. He is “committed to a reform agenda for the fire department that lowers response times, modernizes operations and ensures we have the best possible recruits,” spokesman Yusef Robb said, adding that the progress has begun.

“We have already taken many of the steps outlined in the report. We will closely review this final report as we continue our work to ensure L.A. hires the best possible firefighters.”

As part of the reforms put into effect this year, the LAFD has switched to a bureau concept similar to that used by the Los Angeles Police Department. Under the plan, deputy chiefs are assigned to the San Fernando Valley, Westside, Central and East Los Angeles areas, where they act as fire chiefs for their region.

In addition to hiring the first firefighters after a five-year freeze prompted by budget cuts, Garcetti pushed the department to track its response times through the FireStat program, modeled after the LAPD’s CompStat.

Citing response times that “stunk,” Garcetti said at the time. “This is a new department driven by metrics.”

The mayor had ordered changes to the LAFD hiring process be in place when filling the class that began training in December.

Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas, whom Garcetti hired partly to improve the recruiting system, issued a statement saying he looked forward to reviewing the RAND report and working with the mayor’s office and the Personnel Department on improvements.

Researchers said L.A. should undertake a new citywide firefighter outreach and recruiting campaign after finalizing its criteria for what is needed to perform the job.

They recom­mended the department look at ways to reduce the number of applicants to a more manageable size and set aside funding for an appeals process for those applicants who feel they have been wrongly passed over.

Those interviewed confidentially by RAND said there is widespread belief that women and minorities apply for the LAFD at much lower rates than white males. However, many felt this could be changed through growth in the recruitment funding and staff.

Terrazas has asked for additional recruiters in his upcoming budget, as well as an increase in the pool of candidates from 300 to 500 to broaden the possibilities.

He also is working with Los Angeles Unified School District to develop a magnet program for students considering a career with the LAFD.

The report said diversification in the department’s workforce is needed to gain public confidence and improve communications in an emergency, noting the critical factor in hiring should be that a candidate would make a strong firefighter.

Fire stations could serve as recruitment centers, the report noted, with staff at each site undergoing training to become “official recruiters.” And the city could bring in experts to create a selection process that is more tied to the skills “required to be an effective firefighter.”

Another suggestion is to implement targeted recruitment, with specific outreaches to female athletes and recent military veterans of color.

RAND urged the city to look at ways to reduce the overall cost to the candidates, who currently must pay for tests and interview panels that can take months and keep them away from other job possibilities while waiting to hear from the LAFD.

The report listed a number of options, including paying a salary to applicants to cover expenses and making better use of the Internet and social media.

Some candidates come through privately offered fire training schools or the LAFD cadet program, which provide a good taste of life as a firefighter. But even if an applicant does well in those, not many make it to the department because there are so few openings.

The first graduating class since the freeze was lifted contained no women. The original class of 70 recruits who started the 20-week training was about 55 percent white, with one woman who eventually dropped out. The group also contained 13 sons and three nephews of firefighters.

The class that started training in December comprises 19 white, 13 Hispanic, five black and two Asian men, as well as four women — two white, one Asian and one Hispanic